The Bradley Case POLICE RECEIVED HUNDREDS OF 'PHONE CALLS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29480, 5 April 1961, Page 12

The Bradley Case POLICE RECEIVED HUNDREDS OF 'PHONE CALLS

Well-wishers, Cranks, And Criminals

IBv a Special Correspondent in Sydney) PART IV 'THE evidence put before the jury which convicted Stephen Leslie Bradley of the murder of Graeme Thorne was only a small part of the huge volume of material collected by the police. It made no mention of the thousands of hours members of the police force spent on hopeful but futile leads. Nor did it bring out the heart-rending story of Bazil Thorne’s desperate journeys and assignments—sometimes carrying a fortune with him—in his efforts to meet the kidnappers. ■ Like the last chapter in a crime novel, the court evidence merely summarised the police case and sheeted the crime home.

But the most fascinating part of the story is in the early chapters, hitherto unpublishable because Bradley was under trial. Now, for the first time, this secret history is told by “Sydney Morning Herald” reporters who spent weeks piecing jt together. Within hours of the kidnapping, the search for Graeme Thorne and his abductor became cue of the biggest police operations ever carried out in Australia.

Bradley's telephoned demand at 9.47 a.m. on July 7 for £25.000 ransom brought the C.1.8.’s top detectives post-haste to Bondi. By that afternoon, the commissioner (Mr C. J. Delaney) had conferred with his senior officers and had laid down the pattern of the operation. To the men engaged on it, the priorities were clear enough: firstly, ensure Graeme’s safe return; secondly, and only then, catch the kidnapper.

While some detectives combed the streets around the Thorne flat, others were ; stationed at Bondi police

Station to note the information that began to flow in. Just 12 hours after Bradley had telephoned in the morning, Detective - Sergeant Dave Paul, who was in the Thorne flat that night, took a second call from a man who instructed him to put £25,000 into two paper parcels. The caller hung up without giving further instructions. Police were satisfied that this was not the kidnapper, but the first of a number of demands by people who. were to try to take advantage of the situation to extort money. The first 24-houre found the police with no positive leads or clues. From the confusing mass of information which came in after the newspapers and radio had given first news of the kidnapping only a few substantial points emerged. The clues, if they could be called such, were vague: A man was reported to have been sitting in a park watching movements in Edward street for several days before the kidnapping. A self-styled inquiry agent had called at the Thorne Art to ask for a Mr Bognor and knew the number of their telephone - although it was not in the telephone book and not yet connected. A blue Ford, a green Holden, and several other cars were reported to have been seen in the area. It was little to go on. Telling of the “inquiry agent’s” call, the distraught Mrs Thorne said, "I was uneasy of the man because be didn’t seem genuine.” This seemed the most likely lead, but locating this mystery man seemed likely to prove an impossible task. Well into the night the police probed and searched, and recorded the Information pouring into Bondi Police Station. The first day’s reports from more than 500 calls became a nightmare for policemen trying to carry out a methodical inquiry.

The reports ranged from straight - out accusations against named associates to mysterious cloak-and-dagger hints of intimate inside knowledge of the crime.

“Meet me at the corner of Curlewis street. I’ll be wearing a blue suit and a blue and white striped tie. Ask for Tom,” was a typical approach. Police kept dozens of rendezvous and invariably were given innocuous information. But the probability of a lead could not be overlooked. Some people were frankly interested in the chance of reward. The messages and reports piled up. Each one had to be checked, all possible “suspects” interviewed. Tedious hours were spent tracking the source of reports, many of which arose from overheard snatches of conversation or domestic squabbles. The calls flowed in: “I saw a man leaving a city theatre with the boy.” ... “I saw the boy in a car at King’s Cross. He was crying.” . . . “I saw some men watching the area with binoculars” (they were buying real

estate). Many informants accusing other people of the kidnapping, went to great pains to say, “He would be the type of person to think along those lines.” Harassed police ignored no suggestion. “I think you should check on all New Australian babysitters who work in that area.” It was done. “I saw this boy crying and calling out, ‘ls my Mummy here?’ There were two men with him,” said a woman. It was a family matter. A North Shore resident reported having seen a boy in Scots College uniform and carrying a ease on Pacific Highway thumbing a ride north. Frustrating Task At 8 p.m. police began calling each of the hundreds of houses in Pacific Highway between Chatswood and Cowan to ask householders if they had seen the boy. Nobody had. Twelve hours after Graeme disappeared a woman who lived near his home said she could hear a whimpering noise in a nearby building. Police rushed to the scene and found a colony of squealing cats. “Tty those caves at South Head,” said a former Scots College pupil in a 'phone call. The police, taking every call seriously, made a hazardous night search of the caves. “It was the Greek mob that did it,” said a sinister voice in a telephone call to Bondi police station. Then the caller hung up. A woman reported having seen the boy at a time when, it turned out. he had not even left home. The Thornes themselves, already tortured by the uncertainty about the fate of their son, were pestered by telephone calls from cranks, sadists, and irresponsibles. Repeatedly the Thornes answered the telephone late at night only to hear the heavy breathing of a caller who remained silent. The telephone could not be left off the hook or disconnected for fear of missing a contact by the kidnapper.

Police were posted to the Thornes’ flat to protect them and divert unwanted callers, Mr Thorne had the personal assurance of Mr Delaney that the police would make no move to frustrate a ransom meeting. Mr Delaney issued a directive to all detectives on the case to make no move which would endanger Graeme's life. Arrangements were made for a procedure for negotiation with' the kidnapper which would encourage him to come forward and complete the “transaction” for Graeme’s safe return. £25,000 Drawn Mr Thorne made a sudden decision to draw out £25,000 from the Batik of New South Wales so that he would be ready at any moment to ransom his boy. Accompanied by police, Mr Thorne met two bank officers and the £25,000 to be used as ransom money was handed over to him. The money was taken to the Bondi police station and placed in a safe. Later Mr Thorne took the money to his flat. A police officer at this stage was living in the flat day and night. Later, Mr Thorne withdrew another £25,000 from the bank because a demand had been made to him over the telephone that the ransom money had to be increased. After one call from a man claiming to be the kidnapper. Mr Thorne put the £50,000 in a bag and took it to the nominated meeting place. But nobody appeared and Mr Thome took the money back home. Police on guard at the flat kept a close eye on Mr Thorne at this time because of his distraught state of mind. They feared that he would offer £50.000 indiscriminately to anyone who said he could produce Graeme. Because of police anxiety on his own safety. Mr Thome returned the £50.000 to the bank, and bank officials made fresh arrangements so that he could withdraw the money in the event of emergency at a minute’s notice. Bank Security Guard The bank put a security guard on a 24-hour duty at no. expense to Mr Thorne and £50,000 was placed in a special safe. Mr Thorne had the only key to the safe. It was arranged that if Mr Thorne was contacted by the kidnapper at night and needed the money he was to telephone the Bondi police immediately. He was then to go to the bank, pick up the money and ask for a police car to follow him discreetly. Police had the thought ever in their minds that if Mr Thome did draw out the money he might be waylaid and robbed while carrying out the negotiation. Meanwhile, the flood of information continued to pour into the nerve centre at Bondi police station, where a special group had been installed, after the first few futile days, to recheck and reassess all the reports. The firmest clues seemed to be the report of the iridescent blue 1955 Ford Customline and the description of the private inquiry agent who had called on the Thornes. While a team began the huge task of checking 5000 1955 Fords, other police worked round the clock in search of the inquiry agent, and interviewing informants and suspects. Water police checked on all people who had hired cabin cruisers along the Hawkesbury river and searched boats and week-enders. Other police interviewed New Australians working in road board and water board gangs, questioned Italians on fishing trawlers. New Australian taxi drivers, and anybody else suggested as a possible suspect. Calls came from drunks and mental cases, adding to the police troubles. A woman reported a former “boy friend” as a suspect. Police eliminated him after the woman admitted he had been trying to get back a television set he had given her. Other Inquiries In Melbourne, police interviewed a New Australian who once had been charged with murder but against whom no bill had been filed. The man had once proposed to another New Australian that they should kidnap a wealthy businessman and hold him to. ransom for £lO.OOO. They exonerated the man from any complicity in the Thorne case. New Australians who were absent from work on July 7 were interviewed and their movements checked. A red Goggomobil cruising around the Bondi area auiekly drew police attention. The driver, a man of foreign appearance, was acting suspiciously. He was stopped for questioning. Flustered, he explained. The car was hot registered, he did not have a driving licence, and he wanted to stop to pick up his girl friend. But he was afraid to

stop because everywhere he went he found police cars parked and policemen swarming. A man on his honeymoon was interviewed after ne was named. Many criminals suggested by other criminals as the kidnapper were found to be tn gaol. The water diviners, astrologers, spiritualists, notoriety seekers, cranks, soothsayers, gossips, eavesdroppers and even mathematicians (who worked it all out by algebra) began to move in. A week after Graeme Thorne had disappeared, public—and police—anger at the kidnapping burned unabated. In spite of thousands of hours of searching, police had found no simple trace of the boy. They were only a small part of the way through checking the 5000 1955 Fords that might—only might—lead somewhere. People were beginning to say: "It looks as though they'll never find him.” ITo Be Continued Tomorrow]